Which members of Congress have renounced foreign citizenship while serving?
Executive summary
Two members of Congress who publicly renounced foreign citizenship while serving are Sen. Ted Cruz, who renounced Canadian citizenship in 2014, and Rep. Michele Bachmann, who publicly renounced Swiss citizenship—these renunciations received contemporaneous press coverage and are referenced in multiple reports [1] [2] [3]. Beyond those well‑publicized cases, there is no official, comprehensive roster of sitting members who have renounced foreign citizenship because federal disclosures do not require members to list secondary citizenships and the Congressional Research Service does not track dual citizenship in its profiles [3] [1].
1. Known, documented renunciations: Cruz and Bachmann
Senator Ted Cruz’s 2014 renunciation of Canadian citizenship was widely reported and cited in analyses of dual‑citizenship issues in Congress; sources record that he formally gave up his Canadian citizenship while serving in public office [1]. Similarly, reports and commentary cite Michele Bachmann’s renunciation of Swiss citizenship as a publicized case of a member of Congress ending another nationality during her tenure [2] [1]. Multiple news and policy outlets use these two examples as the clearest, verifiable instances because they were publicly announced and covered by the press [1] [2].
2. The absence of an official accounting and why it matters
There is no centralized, authoritative list of members of Congress who hold or have renounced foreign citizenship because disclosure rules do not require reporting of secondary citizenships and institutional trackers like the Congressional Research Service do not include “citizenship of other countries” in their standard member profiles [3] [1]. Several commentaries argue that this opacity fuels speculation and undermines public trust, and propose adding citizenship data to official biographies or requiring disclosure by statute [1] [2].
3. The contested politics and competing narratives
Calls to force renunciation or mandatory disclosure are driven by competing political narratives: proponents frame the change as a transparency and loyalty issue, while critics warn such moves can be weaponized against minorities or dual‑nationals for partisan gain [4] [5]. Reporting around proposed legislation and statements from lawmakers—such as proposals to bar dual citizens from serving or to require disclosure—demonstrates that policy proposals often carry an implicit political agenda beyond simple administrative reform [4] [5].
4. What reporting cannot confirm and the limits of public evidence
Available sources caution that many claims about who “holds” foreign citizenship are unverified: citizenship can be conferred differently across countries, visits alone don’t create automatic nationality in many cases, and social media narratives have repeatedly produced false allegations about sitting members [3] [6] [7]. Investigations and longform pieces note plausible cases (for example historical or anecdotal reports about birthright claims under foreign laws), but confirmable instances of formal renunciation while serving are limited in the public record to the high‑profile examples above [3] [1] [7].
5. Bottom line and next steps for readers seeking certainty
The verifiable answer today is narrow: Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Michele Bachmann are the commonly cited, publicly documented members who renounced foreign citizenship while in office [1] [2], and journalists and watchdogs stress that beyond those cases there is no systematic public accounting because disclosure norms don’t require it [3] [1]. To move from anecdote to comprehensive fact would require either new statutory disclosure requirements, proactive CRS tracking, or investigative reporting that combs consular records and official renunciation filings—none of which are visible in the current sourced reporting [3] [1].